The Week on Stage: From Legally Blonde to Girl on an Altar
The highs and lows of the week’s theatre
Major musicals and star-studded comedies have been on the agenda this week.
Lucy Moss’s long-awaited production of Legally Blonde arrived at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, along with Girl on an Altar at the Kiln. Out of town, Steven Moffat’s debut play The Unfriend opened at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester.
Next week’s line-up includes Britannicus at the Lyric, Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Jordan Brookes’s new stand-up show and long-awaited West End debut of Amy Adams in The Glass Menagerie.
Legally Blonde – Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre ★★★★★
People have been rooting for Lucy Moss’s revival of Legally Blonde the Musical. The 2001 film still has a devoted following over two decades since its release, and the 2007 stage adaptation is a fan favourite. When pictures of Courtney Bowman as Elle Woods were plastered across social media, the anticipation for the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre run only grew. By opening night, large sections of the crowd were wearing all pink in honour of the musical’s signature colour. Thankfully, the fans will be more than satisfied – this production is seriously fabulous.
The world has changed from the days of scented paper resumés and landline phone calls seen in Reese Witherspoon’s movie portrayal. Elle’s CV now has digital animations, while characters FaceTime from afar and film routines for TikTok, ring light and all. It’s easily one of the most inclusive shows I’ve ever seen. It proves that there’s no need to stick rigidly to past versions to make a great musical great once again. Really, there’s nothing to indicate that Elle Woods, nor Emmett, nor Paulette or even preppy princess Vivienne (Vanessa Fisher) ever had to be strictly played by white actors – so why has it taken so long for a major run to do otherwise?
When casting directors think outside the box and create shows with the same variety that exists in the real world, theatre can really dazzle. And on this occasion, Legally Blonde is so much better for it. Nicole Vassell
Girl on an Altar – Kiln Theatre ★★★☆☆
The classic dilemma: can you still fancy your husband after he’s sacrificed your child for war? In Marina Carr’s version of the Greek myth of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, the atmosphere is angry. And sexy.
The story is always unbearable: a father sending his own daughter to her death. As Agamemnon, David Walmsley shows us a man whose hubris quickly catches up with him, while Eileen Walsh’s Clytemnestra stalks around, unmoored by grief. The thing that eternally bonds them – their child – also destroys them.
The erotic crackle that stubbornly runs between the pair here feels shocking. Elsewhere, though, the play is humourless, hard work. Almost everything else is narrated; it’s an airless experience.
It looks gorgeous, though. Near the beginning, Tom Piper’s pitch-black set lights up with stars that look like fireflies. That’s Girl on an Altar – nice to look at, but after a while, you just want something to move. Jessie Thompson
The Unfriend – Minerva Theatre, Chichester ★★☆☆☆
The Unfriend has a great premise… for a sitcom. But the debut play from Sherlock creator and former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat, directed by Mark Gatiss, is just too inconsistent to live up to that central idea.
Middle class couple Peter (Reece Shearsmith) and Debbie (Amanda Abbington) are soaking up the sun on a cruise when they meet Elsa Jean Krakowski (Frances Barber), a loud, charming American. Elsa invites herself to their Chiswick home and one perfunctory google reveals that Elsa is a suspect in not one, but six murders – including her husband.
Shearsmith is given most of the funny lines, while Abbington is the naturalistic straight man doing Proper Acting. But her part feels underwritten and leaves her resorting to being the finger-wagging fun sponge. Barber, meanwhile, is a tremendous physical comedian, wailing in pain and shrieking with laughter.
There’s an icky smugness to Moffat’s writing; every genuinely funny line undercut by unbearable comments of “she’s Murder Poppins!” and “Who likes flowers? They’re just vegetables for looking at”. There are also gaping holes in the plot that are simply never explained. It’s a shame, because Moffat’s play has potential. In the final moments, there’s a genuinely good twist. While I won’t spoil, it almost makes it worth it. But not quite. Isobel Lewis
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